Type Cultural interest Scope United States | Emphasis Asian American | |
Founded 1930; 87 years ago (1930)
San Francisco State University Mission statement "To further the awareness of women in Asian culture" Vision statement Unity, Friendship, Leadership, Service | ||
Sigma Omicron Pi (ΣΟΠ) is an Asian American sorority. Founded in 1930 at San Francisco State University, the college social organization has chapters on 12 campuses in the United States. The stated objective of the sorority is to "further the awareness of women in Asian culture" and "to promote unity, lifelong friendships, leadership, and community service".
Contents
History
In 1930, ten Asian American women came together on the campus of San Francisco State University to form a sorority for women of Asian heritage, the first Chinese sorority at that campus. Their educational focus on pedagogy informed the early activities of the group, as they relied on the constitution of an educational honor society in forming their own and adopted the Greek letters Σ, Ο and Π for their fledgling sorority.
According to the organization's website, ΣΟΠ remained in operation "for the next 15 years" but became inactive "at the advent of World War II". At some point between the declaration of war by the United States in December 1941 and 1945, ΣΟΠ went dormant, but it was revived on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley in 1946. The educational focus of ΣΟΠ fell away, but the primary purpose of providing fellowship and philanthropy for and among Asian American women - of many Asian backgrounds - as well as providing cultural awareness about them has remained. In 1994, the sorority created an Inter-Chapter Council with six elected officers to help unite the various groups.
Campus representation
The sorority has presence on the following college campuses:
The Eta Chapter (1997), located at the University of Maryland, has retired.